RUDY ROLLS IN

There are 236 candidate shopping days left until
Delaware's presidential primary on Feb. 5, and Rudy
Giuliani powered in here Thursday morning to shoot for
the top of the Republican list.

Giuliani rolled into Wilmington in a hulking black
Cadillac Escalade with New York plates, tinted windows
and a shine like patent leather. It looked impenetrable
enough to take a blast from a roadside bomb with no more
than a shudder and then hunt down the creep who planted
it.

This is the image Giuliani cultivates. He says he
should be elected president because his experience as
New York's mayor on Sept. 11, 2001, when the terrorists
struck and the twin towers fell, makes him the candidate
most committed to keeping the country on offense against
terrorism.

It makes his campaign visceral. Crowds expect to hear
him talk about that day. He is the ultimate eyewitness.
No matter how many times Giuliani has spoken about it,
he does it without sounding stale and without sounding
exploitative, even though he is a politician and it is
probably the best ticket there is to the presidential
dance.

Without it, there is little reason to think this
sprawling country would have the remotest interest in
electing an acidic ex-mayor who comes from where he
comes from, not in a New York minute.

Giuliani made two stops here. The first was a
fund-raiser for his campaign at the University of
Delaware Goodstay Center, off-limits to the press, with
about 120 people paying $250 for breakfast, $1,000 for a
private reception or $2,300 for the reception and a
photograph with the candidate. The second was a
$10-a-ticket rally staged by the state Republican Party
at the Terrace at Greenhill and attended by more than
250 people.

The mass event was billed as a Flag Day rally. To the
Republicans' credit, they did not turn it into a cheesy
demonstration of tiny flags waving. The only U.S. flag
in evidence was the one that belonged there in the
custom of placing it on one side of the speaker's
lectern with the state flag on the other.

The press coverage was substantial with news outlets
from Delaware, Philadelphia, New York City and
Washington. It was a politician's dream and a welcome
blaze of glory for the Delaware Republicans, who may be
the minority party but can attract a presidential
front-runner while the Democrats are stuck with Joe
Biden.

It was also a marked contrast to Mitt Romney's visit
here two weeks ago. He squirreled himself away on a
guarded Chateau Country estate for a pricey fund-raiser
followed by a picnic that was closed to the press. It
seemed as though he was sending a message that he was
not interested in reaching out to Delaware but only into
its wallets.

The practice of the electorate here is to vote for
the presidential candidates who come to see them -- the
way Republican Steve Forbes and Democrat John Kerry did
-- but Romney's appearance is not likely to count for
much with no evidence that he cared whether people knew
he stopped by.

For Giuliani, it was his second visit to Delaware
this year after keynoting a Republican gala in January.
The state is getting his attention as one of about 20
voting on Feb. 5, probably the definitive day for the
presidential nomination after leadoff contests in Iowa,
Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Giuliani also
regards Delaware as one of those Democratic-leaning
Northeast states he could bring to the Republican column
as the nominee.

"We need a Republican candidate in 2008 who has a
good chance to win Delaware and Pennsylvania and New
Jersey and a state I know something about, New York,"
Giuliani said.

The Rudy-watchers ranged from committed to curious.

Among the committed, there were three key Republicans
running Giuliani's local campaign -- Louis J. Freeh, the
FBI ex-director who was with MBNA, Priscilla B.
Rakestraw, the Republican national committeewoman, and
Frank A. Ursomarso Sr., the auto dealer who was a White
House aide for three presidents.

Rakestraw, who introduced Giuliani, said, "Rudy
Giuliani is an optimistic leader. He believes that
America's best days are still ahead. He is America's
mayor, and with your help, he will become America's
president."

Among the curious, there were Republicans who were
candidate shopping, as cagey as the New Hampshire voters
who keep the contenders coming by keeping them guessing.

Senate Minority Leader Charles L. Copeland said, "I'm
still window shopping. Looking at what's on the other
side of the aisle, I think we've got great candidates."

Sussex County Councilman Vance C. Phillips, recently
elected the Republican state vice-chair, said, "The
beauty of holding a position in the party is you can
stay neutral."

Giuliani spoke for about 20 minutes, grafting a Flag
Day theme onto his standard stump speech. "Before Sept.
11, I only wore a flag [lapel pin] rarely," he said. "I
started wearing it every day. Each time it reminds me of
Sept. 11. The flag was very, very important to me that
day."

Giuliani recalled the moment he knew the country
would come through -- when he saw the photograph of the
firefighters raising the flag above the steaming pile at
Ground Zero. "It looked just like Iwo Jima. I said to
myself, the spirit of America is still the same. I'm
running for president because I want to keep the spirit
of America still the same," he said.

There was but a tiny glitch in Giuliani's remarks
before he was driven away in the Cadillac Escalade.
"Delaware is one of the great states. It's one of the
first states," he said.

One of the first? That talk may work in New
Hampshire, which was the ninth and deciding state to
ratify the Constitution, but not here, not in the First
State.

Delaware is no more "one of the first" than New York
City is "one of the Big Fruits."